


Once More, From the Top

by jaythenerdkid



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-27
Updated: 2014-04-27
Packaged: 2018-01-20 23:22:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1529552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaythenerdkid/pseuds/jaythenerdkid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>It turns out he can change one thing, or two, or seven, or twenty.</em> Scenes from a rebooted relationship. 100% pure fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Once More, From the Top

**Author's Note:**

> This is dedicated to my partner, who doesn't watch TMP but read my last fic anyway. (His thoughts, verbatim: "well I'm not sure if I'm the target audience but it's definitely good writing.") Little does he know that I'm totally going to make him marathon the first two seasons with me during the summer hiatus.
> 
> As always, your comments and feedback are very much appreciated. Thank you all for welcoming me into this fandom with such enthusiasm. I'm having a blast.

_"I won't run away this time. I won't."_

_"Promise?"_

_He takes one of her small hands in both of his larger ones and squeezes it. He forces himself to look her in the eye. He breathes in, then out, then in again._

_"Promise."_

 

* * *

 

They still fight, but they've always fought. They fight over what they're going to watch on TV. They fight over where they're going to go for dinner. They fight over whether it's called a Springsteen  _concert_ or a Springsteen  _show_. They fight in whispers on the subway and with raised voices in the elevator, only to stop when someone else gets in, their anger simmering below expressions of forced calm until they're alone again.

But Mindy was right - they make up. They DVR Mindy's reality TV shows and watch them together later, Danny providing commentary _sotto voce_ that makes Mindy giggle and elbow him in the ribs. Danny convinces her to try his favourite deli and within a week, Mindy already has a sandwich named after her (the Lahiri Special - "guaranteed to make you need a doctor tomorrow"). They decide - jointly, after much consultation - that Springsteen does shows and Nicki Minaj does concerts. They kiss chastely on the subway and less chastely in the elevator on the way to the office and one time Jeremy catches them in the hot pipe room and Danny doesn't even care as much as he thought he would.

 

* * *

 

He doesn't care about a lot of things as much as he thought he would.

 

* * *

 

It turns out he can change one thing, or two, or seven, or twenty. He gets used to her singing Katy Perry songs in the shower. He allows himself to be sold on the benefits of a dedicated exfoliation regimen. He lets her drag him along to a Miley Cyrus concert and concedes that maybe the acoustic set wasn't all that bad, considering. One time, Mindy accidentally gets seltzer instead of tonic water and he drinks it anyway and it ends up being okay because when Danny kisses her, her lips are just a little bit sweet.

It turns out she can change a little, too. She learns to cook French toast without burning the non-stick coating off all his frying pans. One day she catches Danny staring at her and she slowly, self-consciously, relaxes her stomach so that she's not sucking it in. He smiles that crooked smile and she feels more beautiful than she ever has before. She resolves to cut up all her Spanx. (She doesn't do it, but it's the thought that counts. She tells Danny this and he laughs and kisses her on her forehead and the tip of her nose and then on her lips and she stops thinking about shapewear all together for the next few hours.)

 

* * *

 

They start to grow around each other without realising it. She adopts his mannerisms; he secretly downloads the new Beyonce album from iTunes and listens to it on his morning jog. ( _***Flawless_ makes him a feminist. He spends an afternoon YouTubing Chimamanda Adichie's TED Talks.) She steals his favourite t-shirts to sleep in. He buys more t-shirts and she steals those too. He gives in and enjoys the fact that his shirts all smell a bit like Mindy now - the combined scent of her body wash and that shaving gel she uses and her perfume and the musky salty-sweetness that's just naturally her. He leaves his mark on her in return, biting down on the skin just above her collarbone as she tangles a fist in his hair and moans for him. It leaves a little bruise that doesn't fade for days. He catches her rubbing the spot subconsciously as she sorts through paperwork, biting her lower lip in concentration, and a little jolt of warmth spreads through him. Betsy asks him why he's smiling and he stammers something about the Mets and escapes to his office, but the smile doesn't leave his face.

 

* * *

 

He smiles a lot more these days, actually. He finds that he doesn't really mind at all, not even when Richie teases him about it or Peter makes ribald comments about the reasons for his cheerier demeanour, eyebrows wiggling suggestively. (He does punch Peter in the shoulder and tell him to stop being a pervert, but he doesn't mean it as much as he might have once upon a time. It's not like Peter is  _wrong_ , after all.)

 

* * *

 

Danny's a traditional kind of guy, so one day, hands shaking, he calls up Mindy's father to ask a question he thought he'd never ask again. Dr Lahiri Sr (technically, he realises, both of Mindy's parents are Dr Lahiri Sr - he should probably start calling them by their first names or something) laughs and gives his permission, and Danny releases a breath he didn't even realise he was holding.

He shops for the perfect ring during his lunch breaks, plans elaborate proposal after elaborate proposal (the Empire State Building, that place where Harry Met Sally, Central Park carriage ride, jumbotron during a Mets game?), keeps thinking of all the reasons Mindy might say no, wonders why the hell someone like her would say yes to someone like him. In the end, he gets down on one knee in front of everyone in the doctors' lounge after a particularly complex delivery and just blurts it out, fumbling in his jacket pocket for the ring, all his elaborately laid plans forgotten. Mindy's eyes go wide and her mouth makes this little 'o' shape and she just stares at him for a moment, and then she's saying yes and he's sliding the ring onto her finger with trembling hands and she's pulling him to his feet and kissing him fiercely and everyone around them is applauding and Peter is whooping something crass but oddly sentimental and Jesus Christ, he is the happiest guy in the world.

 

* * *

 

This is just the beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> In my head, Mindy's dad is totally played by Amitabh Bachchan. (If you don't know who he is, look him up. You can thank me later.)


End file.
